Leonard W. Miller
Encyclopedia
Leonard W. Miller is one of two black motor racing pioneers living in the United States.
and raised in its suburbs. His lifelong love of automobiles began at age five in 1939, and he began secretly tinkering with his family’s 1937 Ford
in 1948. He built an advanced 1940 Ford club coupe hotrod convertible in 1953. As a charter member of George Barris
’s Kustoms of America based in Southern California, he ordered custom parts from Barris to complete his project in Pennsylvania.
Because of his knowledge of automobiles, Miller was assigned to the United States Third Army’s 45th Ordinance Battalion, Direct Automotive Support Company in 1957. This one-of-a-kind company was trained to repair jeeps and trucks under battlefield conditions and consisted of hot-rodders, drag racers, United Auto Workers
assembly line workers and NASCAR
racers.
Miller was mentored by Mel Leighton and Sumner “Red” Oliver, two black racing pioneers of the 1920s-1940s. These relationships, and friendships with Wendell Scott
and Malcolm Durham, helped propel Miller and African American driver Benny Scott
to many achievements racing under the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) and Vanguard Racing, Inc. banners in the 1970s.
In 1972, Vanguard Racing became the first black-owned team to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500
, with John Mahler as the driver. Vanguard’s concept was to employ Mahler as a development coach to help prepare Benny Scott for the Indianapolis 500 in subsequent years.
Scott drove Vanguard’s Formula A, in a McLaren M10-A, powered with a 500-horsepower Chevrolet
V-8 in the L & M Continental 5000 Championship and Sports Car Club of America
(SCCA) events. Scott won the CSCC-SCCA Southern Pacific Division Championship in 1972, outperforming drivers traveling from as far away as Australia
to compete.
Vanguard’s board of directors consisted of Paul Jackson, president of Jackson & Sanders Construction Company; Robert Sargent Shriver
, Jr., first head of the Peace Corps
and former Ambassador to France
, who would be the Democratic Party
's candidate for Vice President of the United States
in 1972; Washington Redskins
defensive halfback Brig Owens
; and Richard Deutsch, board chairman of Harbor Oil Corporation.
Unfortunately for the team's ambitions, Vanguard’s stockholders were euphoric with John Mahler’s performance at the 1972 Indianapolis 500, and as a result they lost their patience and ambition to groom Benny Scott.
(BARA). At its height, BARA boasted 5,000 members from 20 states. Wendell Scott was the first honorary chairman. Ron Hines
, a University of Pennsylvania
-trained mechanical engineer, served as secretary and race team mechanic. Today, former BARA members from Maryland
, Washington, DC, and Virginia
are carrying on the original objectives as the Quartermasters Drag Racing Team.
, New Jersey
. BAR secured sponsorship from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation (Viceroy Cigarettes), as part of an initiative called “Road To Indy.” This stair-step scheme put Scott in Formula Super Vee
(FSV) competition in SCCA, International Motor Sports Association
(IMSA), and the Robert Bosch
Gold Cup series on road circuits from coast to coast including Watkins Glen International
, Lime Rock Park
, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Road America
, and Pocono Raceway
.
Scott achieved several podium finishes in Lola T-324 FSV’s purchased from legendary Carl Haas
Automobile Imports. At Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California
on May 4, 1975, he was the fastest qualifier, but on the final lap of the race itself Scott was barely beaten in a photo finish by Fred Phillips in his Eldon Mk 14B.
To eliminate this dilemma, Miller signed Coyle Peek, a 23-year-old African American driver from Long Island, New York. Peek was a Formula Ford
(FF) driver. Miller placed Peek with S.H.A.R.P Racing Limited in the United Kingdom
to aid his development in the most competitive entry-level road racing series in the world: British Formula Ford.
Under the BAR banner, Peek competed in a British-manufactured Royale RP16 chassis powered by a 1600cc engine at world-famous British circuits such as Brands Hatch
, the Silverstone Circuit
, and Mallory Park
. Peek competed against FF chassis types such as Meryln 17a and 20a, Macon MR6, Lotus 51, 61, 61M, Van Diemen FA73, and the Bradley FF.
Coyle Peek progressed rapidly, finishing in the top 10 in most races, with a second-place finish as his highest. He quickly earned the post as a reserve driver in case Benny Scott were to be injured or killed competing for BAR in FSV. After he returned to the US, Peek attended many of BAR’s events. Miller tried to acquire a companion race car and sponsorship for Peek, but it was denied in corporate boardrooms.
Miller is the first documented African American team principal to dispatch an African American driver across the North Atlantic for professional race car driving development supported by his own means.
events, with Benny Scott competing at speeds over 200 mph with racing legends such as Great Britain’s Brian Redman
, South Africa’s Jody Scheckter
, Mario Andretti
, and Chris Amon
of New Zealand
.
BAR qualified for the inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix
(LBGP) on September 28, 1975, an invitation-only event for the top 60 race teams in the world. Scott qualified the BAR’s Lola T332
entry 24th out of the 30 teams that qualified for the race. Scott finished the race in 11th place. Grant King was BAR’s chief mechanic for all the Formula 5000 races the team entered in 1975.
Although BAR’s LBGP performance demonstrated its ability to qualify the first African American driver for the Indianapolis 500 in the mid-1970s, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation terminated all of its motor racing sponsorships in November 1975 for business reasons. BAR approached several other Fortune 500
companies to continue its “Fast Road to Indianapolis” effort, without success.
Willy T. Ribbs
, who was inspired to become a professional race car driver by his father’s interaction with Miller's and Scott's trailblazing accomplishments at California race tracks, qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 1991 and 1993, but was also challenged by insufficient corporate sponsorship to sustain his efforts. The sponsorship challenge continues to plague all African American motor racing efforts, into the 21st century.
for their achievements in motor racing. A host of sports notables and entertainers were in attendance, including NFL star Frank Gifford
, ABC Sports
broadcaster Howard Cosell
, legendary soul singer James Brown
, boxing promoter Don King, and New York Knicks
basketball player Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. Actor Bill Cosby
was the master of ceremonies. Over 1000 patrons and icons attended the black-tie ceremony.
joined Ron Hines to perform mechanical duties on the Lola T-324 and T-620. BAR garnered some wins with Thompson, including the SCCA Northeast Division championship.
Unfortunately, in September 1978, Thompson was killed in a crash at the Trenton Speedway
in Trenton, New Jersey. Benny Scott finished the 1978 season for BAR.
from 1994-1999, resulting in many successes with his son, Leonard T. Miller
. The team at this time was named Miller Racing Group and had General Motors
and Dr Pepper
as sponsors.
In 2005, Miller and his son were the first African American team owners to win a track championship in NASCAR history. They won the stock car championship at Old Dominion Speedway
in Manassas, Virginia
and was acknowledged as one of the top 10 teams in the middle Atlantic division. Franklin Butler was the driver.
Paul Newman
called Miller's autobiography, Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports
(2004), "an extraordinary book that is refreshingly honest," and Mario Andretti praised it as "eye-opening". In its 50th Anniversary Edition in July 2008, AutoWeek
magazine named Silent Thunder one of the top 50 automobile books of the previous 50 years.
Miller's son has also written a book about the Miller Racing Group and NASCAR, titled Racing While Black, published in 2010 by Seven Stories Press
.
Early life
Miller was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and raised in its suburbs. His lifelong love of automobiles began at age five in 1939, and he began secretly tinkering with his family’s 1937 Ford
1937 Ford
The Ford line of cars was updated in 1937 with one major change — the introduction of an entry-level 136 CID V8 in addition to the popular 221 CID V8 unit. The model was a refresh of its predecessor, itself based on Ford's V8-powered Model 40A and was the company's main product. ...
in 1948. He built an advanced 1940 Ford club coupe hotrod convertible in 1953. As a charter member of George Barris
George Barris (auto customizer)
George Barris is a designer of custom cars.-Early history:George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. After the deaths of their parents, they moved to Roseville, California as children to live with relatives. Both were good students, interested in drama, music, and design...
’s Kustoms of America based in Southern California, he ordered custom parts from Barris to complete his project in Pennsylvania.
Because of his knowledge of automobiles, Miller was assigned to the United States Third Army’s 45th Ordinance Battalion, Direct Automotive Support Company in 1957. This one-of-a-kind company was trained to repair jeeps and trucks under battlefield conditions and consisted of hot-rodders, drag racers, United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
assembly line workers and NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
racers.
Miller was mentored by Mel Leighton and Sumner “Red” Oliver, two black racing pioneers of the 1920s-1940s. These relationships, and friendships with Wendell Scott
Wendell Scott
Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...
and Malcolm Durham, helped propel Miller and African American driver Benny Scott
Benny Scott
Benny Scott , was a second-generation African American race car driver, a rarity in the motor racing industry...
to many achievements racing under the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) and Vanguard Racing, Inc. banners in the 1970s.
Indy Car owner
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, with John Mahler as the driver. Vanguard’s concept was to employ Mahler as a development coach to help prepare Benny Scott for the Indianapolis 500 in subsequent years.
Scott drove Vanguard’s Formula A, in a McLaren M10-A, powered with a 500-horsepower Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
V-8 in the L & M Continental 5000 Championship and Sports Car Club of America
Sports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...
(SCCA) events. Scott won the CSCC-SCCA Southern Pacific Division Championship in 1972, outperforming drivers traveling from as far away as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to compete.
Vanguard’s board of directors consisted of Paul Jackson, president of Jackson & Sanders Construction Company; Robert Sargent Shriver
Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., known as Sargent Shriver, R. Sargent Shriver, or, from childhood, Sarge, was an American statesman and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family, serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations...
, Jr., first head of the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
and former Ambassador to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, who would be the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's candidate for Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
in 1972; Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
defensive halfback Brig Owens
Brig Owens
Brigman Owens is a former American football player in the National Football League who played defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins....
; and Richard Deutsch, board chairman of Harbor Oil Corporation.
Unfortunately for the team's ambitions, Vanguard’s stockholders were euphoric with John Mahler’s performance at the 1972 Indianapolis 500, and as a result they lost their patience and ambition to groom Benny Scott.
Organizing black racers
Miller was also the founder, in 1972, of the Black American Racers AssociationBlack American Racers Association
The Black American Racers Association was founded in August 1972 in Trenton, New Jersey by Leonard W. Miller, Ron Hines, Eugene Gadson, and Charles Singleton. BARA was formed to give recognition to black racing drivers, crews, mechanics, car owners, and other members of the auto racing community...
(BARA). At its height, BARA boasted 5,000 members from 20 states. Wendell Scott was the first honorary chairman. Ron Hines
Ron Hines
Ron Hines was the first black Ivy League-educated auto racing engineer on America’s road racing circuits. He was an engineer for Black American Racers, Inc. , the first black auto racing team to attain national sponsorship in America, in the 1970s.-Early years:Ron Hines was raised in New...
, a University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
-trained mechanical engineer, served as secretary and race team mechanic. Today, former BARA members from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Washington, DC, and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
are carrying on the original objectives as the Quartermasters Drag Racing Team.
Black American Racers
In 1973, Miller formed Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) from his offices on West State Street in TrentonTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. BAR secured sponsorship from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation (Viceroy Cigarettes), as part of an initiative called “Road To Indy.” This stair-step scheme put Scott in Formula Super Vee
Formula Super Vee
Formula Super Vee was a type of open-wheel motor created to act as a platform for the promotion of VW products, playing much the same role in the 1970s as formulae such as Formula Renault play today. The idea for Formula Super Vee is generally attributed to Josef Hopen, who worked as the Special...
(FSV) competition in SCCA, International Motor Sports Association
International Motor Sports Association
The International Motor Sports Association is an American sports car auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
(IMSA), and the Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH.-Biography:...
Gold Cup series on road circuits from coast to coast including Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation...
, Lime Rock Park
Lime Rock Park
Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lime Rock, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the village of Lakeville, Connecticut, in the state’s northwest corner...
, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Road America
Road America
Road America is a road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series , American Le Mans , SCCA Speed World Challenge Series, ASRA, and AMA Superbike series.- Current track and...
, and Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...
.
Scott achieved several podium finishes in Lola T-324 FSV’s purchased from legendary Carl Haas
Carl Haas
Carl A. Haas is an American auto racing impresario. He co-owned the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team in the IndyCar Series with the late Paul Newman and Mike Lanigan. He also owned Carl A...
Automobile Imports. At Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
on May 4, 1975, he was the fastest qualifier, but on the final lap of the race itself Scott was barely beaten in a photo finish by Fred Phillips in his Eldon Mk 14B.
BAR driver development
In 1973 Miller and Scott devised a driver development program for BAR, before it became widespread in American motor racing, motivated by a question Miller was asked often by potential sponsors in corporate America: What if your primary black driver is killed?To eliminate this dilemma, Miller signed Coyle Peek, a 23-year-old African American driver from Long Island, New York. Peek was a Formula Ford
Formula Ford
Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....
(FF) driver. Miller placed Peek with S.H.A.R.P Racing Limited in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to aid his development in the most competitive entry-level road racing series in the world: British Formula Ford.
Under the BAR banner, Peek competed in a British-manufactured Royale RP16 chassis powered by a 1600cc engine at world-famous British circuits such as Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
, the Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
, and Mallory Park
Mallory Park
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley. With the full car circuit measuring only 1.35 miles it is amongst the shortest permanent race circuits in the UK...
. Peek competed against FF chassis types such as Meryln 17a and 20a, Macon MR6, Lotus 51, 61, 61M, Van Diemen FA73, and the Bradley FF.
Coyle Peek progressed rapidly, finishing in the top 10 in most races, with a second-place finish as his highest. He quickly earned the post as a reserve driver in case Benny Scott were to be injured or killed competing for BAR in FSV. After he returned to the US, Peek attended many of BAR’s events. Miller tried to acquire a companion race car and sponsorship for Peek, but it was denied in corporate boardrooms.
Miller is the first documented African American team principal to dispatch an African American driver across the North Atlantic for professional race car driving development supported by his own means.
Long Beach Grand Prix
Brown & Williamson Tobacco expedited BAR’s promotion into Formula 5000Formula 5000
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...
events, with Benny Scott competing at speeds over 200 mph with racing legends such as Great Britain’s Brian Redman
Brian Redman
Brian Herman Thomas Redman is a British racing driver from England....
, South Africa’s Jody Scheckter
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...
, Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
, and Chris Amon
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon MBE is a former motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One - racing in the 1960s and 1970s - and is widely regarded to be one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
BAR qualified for the inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix
Long Beach Grand Prix
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit in Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder and promoter which began as a vision while working at a travel agency in downtown Long Beach. It was the premier circuit in the Champ Car from 1996, and...
(LBGP) on September 28, 1975, an invitation-only event for the top 60 race teams in the world. Scott qualified the BAR’s Lola T332
Lola T332
The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...
entry 24th out of the 30 teams that qualified for the race. Scott finished the race in 11th place. Grant King was BAR’s chief mechanic for all the Formula 5000 races the team entered in 1975.
Although BAR’s LBGP performance demonstrated its ability to qualify the first African American driver for the Indianapolis 500 in the mid-1970s, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation terminated all of its motor racing sponsorships in November 1975 for business reasons. BAR approached several other Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies to continue its “Fast Road to Indianapolis” effort, without success.
Willy T. Ribbs
Willy T. Ribbs
William "Willy" Theodore Ribbs, Jr. is a racecar driver who competed in many forms of auto racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association....
, who was inspired to become a professional race car driver by his father’s interaction with Miller's and Scott's trailblazing accomplishments at California race tracks, qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 1991 and 1993, but was also challenged by insufficient corporate sponsorship to sustain his efforts. The sponsorship challenge continues to plague all African American motor racing efforts, into the 21st century.
Hall of Fame
In 1976, Leonard W. Miller and Benny Scott were inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame at the New York Hilton in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
for their achievements in motor racing. A host of sports notables and entertainers were in attendance, including NFL star Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
, ABC Sports
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports division has been merged with ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...
broadcaster Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
, legendary soul singer James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, boxing promoter Don King, and New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball player Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. Actor Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
was the master of ceremonies. Over 1000 patrons and icons attended the black-tie ceremony.
Mini-Indy tragedy
African American driver Tommy Thompson approached Miller in 1977 to continue the BAR effort with personal funds in FSV (called Mini-Indy cars at that time). Miller’s longtime friend Ken Wright (auto racing mechanic)Ken Wright (auto racing mechanic)
Kenneth W. Wright was born in 1940 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and was a race car driver and mechanic for, among other teams, Black American Racers, Inc. , the first African American auto racing team to acquire national sponsorship in the United States....
joined Ron Hines to perform mechanical duties on the Lola T-324 and T-620. BAR garnered some wins with Thompson, including the SCCA Northeast Division championship.
Unfortunately, in September 1978, Thompson was killed in a crash at the Trenton Speedway
Trenton Speedway
Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway.-Racing history:...
in Trenton, New Jersey. Benny Scott finished the 1978 season for BAR.
Recent accomplishments
Miller formed several NASCAR grassroots efforts based from his shop in Concord, North CarolinaConcord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
from 1994-1999, resulting in many successes with his son, Leonard T. Miller
Leonard T. Miller
Leonard T. Miller, a native a Lawrenceville, New Jersey, graduated from Morehouse College in 1983 with a B.A. in Business Administration. He has achieved many accomplishments in aviation and motor racing and as an author....
. The team at this time was named Miller Racing Group and had General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
as sponsors.
In 2005, Miller and his son were the first African American team owners to win a track championship in NASCAR history. They won the stock car championship at Old Dominion Speedway
Old Dominion Speedway
Old Dominion Speedway is a 3/8 mile NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and drag racing track in Prince William County, just south of Manassas, Virginia . The Potomac News reported in August 2006 that the track had been sold and that it would be leveled by developers in around a year...
in Manassas, Virginia
Manassas, Virginia
The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...
and was acknowledged as one of the top 10 teams in the middle Atlantic division. Franklin Butler was the driver.
Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
called Miller's autobiography, Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports
Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports
Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports is the autobiography of African American motorsports pioneer Leonard W. Miller. It is a rare look inside an African American man’s motor racing experience from post World War II into the early 1990s. Only two...
(2004), "an extraordinary book that is refreshingly honest," and Mario Andretti praised it as "eye-opening". In its 50th Anniversary Edition in July 2008, AutoWeek
AutoWeek
AutoWeek is a fortnightly automotive enthusiast publication based in Detroit, Michigan. One of 32 titles published by Crain Communications Inc, its parent company, AutoWeek is unique as the only consumer title among its sister publications....
magazine named Silent Thunder one of the top 50 automobile books of the previous 50 years.
Miller's son has also written a book about the Miller Racing Group and NASCAR, titled Racing While Black, published in 2010 by Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press is an independent publishing company. Located in New York City, the company was founded by editor Dan Simon in 1995 after he parted company with Four Walls Eight Windows. The company was named for its seven founding authors: Annie Ernaux, Gary Null, the estate of Nelson Algren,...
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